


soaked and cold but together

by hummingbirdswords



Series: SQ tumblr fics [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Kissing in the Rain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-11
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-21 22:34:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8262845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hummingbirdswords/pseuds/hummingbirdswords
Summary: When Emma storms out of the house after feeling as though everyone was keeping a secret from her, Regina follows her out into the storm.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a Tumblr Meme...kiss in the rain
> 
> these things are supposed to be short and simple, but I am apparently incapable of keeping things simple. so I'm posting up here.
> 
> And if you're not following me, you're probably not missing much... but if you want, I'm hummingbirdswords over there.

Regina was getting ready to exit the kitchen and bring the new bottles of wine out to the group gathered just outside the room when she heard a loud commotion and raised voices. It sounded like Emma, but she had been unable to make out the words that had been said. By the the time Regina had walked into the room, there was no sign of Emma, just her jacket hanging on the back of the chair as everyone turned to look outside of the room, facing the direction of the side door with long expressions on their faces.

 

Regina huffed out a breath, looking past Henry and David and facing Snow and Zelena. “Let me guess, one of you two idiots were pushing again, and you pushed too far.” She exhaled loudly. “How many times–”

 

“I was just trying to help,” Snow said, blinking her apologetic eyes up at Regina.

 

Regina shook her head, clenching her fists as she tried to keep her frustration from spilling out. She had a lot to say to both Snow and her sister – especially Zelena – about continuously getting involved in a situation that didn’t need to involve either of them. But she had a more important issue to handle first, and that was figuring out where Emma had gone in the pouring rain without her jacket – and most likely an umbrella.

 

“We will deal with this later. But first - -” she sighed, magicking an umbrella into her hand and taking Emma’s jacket from the chair, “- - I have someone I need to find.”

 

Snow sighed, too. “I really am sorry. I just want the two of you to be happy.”

 

Regina pulled her warm cardigan around her and looked over her shoulder, smiling slightly because she knew Snow only meant well. “We are happy. If you would stop for a moment, and you forgot about your own agenda, you would see that Emma and I are both very happy where we are right now.”

 

“But you could be happier together, Mom,” Henry said, sounding so sure and confident. “Emma just doesn’t know that that might be a possibility.”

 

A twist in Regina’s stomach made her look away from her son, from a table of knowing eyes. “Henry,” she breathed.

 

“I know. I know. There're no guarantees. Things might not go as I expect them to – or how any of us expects and hopes they will. I know. You remind me this _all the time._ But like Grandma was saying to Ma before she got upset, when you love someone, you shouldn’t be afraid of it. You should embrace it.”

 

Regina couldn’t believe she had a family full of idealistic romantics, all of them, even her cynical sister was jumping on the bandwagon with the Charmings. Hadn’t they witnessed her losing out in the end enough times to know that her chances of having more than she already had with Emma were slim to none? She was happy with what she had, valued Emma’s friendship above all else and could love her without any of the romance.

 

But as she made her way to the side door that led to the backyard, she couldn’t help but wonder how much Emma already knew about her feelings. It wasn’t as though she had sat everyone else down and declared her unconditional love for Emma. Henry had known the longest, wanted her to know that he supported her and didn’t want her to think he was a reason she couldn’t go after what he described as the missing part of her happy ending. Snow had dropped what were most likely supposed to be subtle hints that she knew – but none of them were subtle, and eventually David caught on. And Zelena had been very vocal about how obvious she believed it to be that they, both of them, were in love and wasting valuable time pretending they weren’t. If it was up to Regina, nobody would be aware of how she felt – maybe not even herself.

 

Her stomach felt heavy and tight as she slid the sliding door open, harsh raindrops hitting her face almost immediately. A chill moved through her bones and she shivered, cursing Emma and her impulsive behavior, her foolish, foolish way of thinking that brought her outside in the middle of a storm with nothing but a t-shirt on to keep her warm. She was going to get herself sick.

 

“Emma Swan,” Regina called out, scanning the dark yard for any sign of the woman. She hoped she hadn’t gone any farther, hoped she had enough sense not to go driving in this weather.

 

The wind howled and whipped at the trees, their leaves rustling loudly in the air. Regina opened her umbrella and stepped out into the yard, sliding the door shut behind her, noticing that others trying to pretend they weren’t out of their seats and watching. She rolled her eyes and forgot about them momentarily, searching for Emma. She was probably soaked by now, cold and shivering, and Regina was worried most about that.

 

It was too dark to see more than outlines and shadows, too loud to hear beyond the wind and the rattling of trashcans and gates. Regina let out a frustrated breath and stood still, outstretched her hand, and produced a glowing orb of light that illuminated the dark night.

 

“Regina,” she heard through the sound of the rain _plop plop plopping_ against her umbrella.

 

Her heart lurched at the sound of her name, her eyes straining to make out shapes in the dark and locate Emma. She spun around, splitting her concentration between making the glow of her light brighter and looking for the other woman. She almost completed a full circle when she spotted her on the bench next to the garden, her blonde hair matted down and her heather gray shirt completely transparent, her leg bouncing the only sign that she was even present in the moment.

 

The tightness in her stomach loosened a little, tension releasing as she let out a breath and hurried over to Emma. She closed her fist and the light disappeared, Emma a darkened shadow blending in with the trees again until Regina approached her.

 

“What are you doing, Emma?” Regina said in a near-shout, putting the umbrella over Emma and trying to hand her the jacket she had left behind.

 

Emma looked up from the ground. She looked lost. She shivered almost violently, but she didn’t take her jacket from Regina. “Isn’t that the question of the century,” she said with a hollow laugh, a pained look in her eyes. “What am I doing?”

 

Regina frowned and took Emma’s hand and put the umbrella in it. “Come inside,” Regina said as she helped Emma into her jacket – pulled her right arm through, sighed when it fell down to Emma’s lap, limp, and then switched the umbrella to the other hand so she could repeat the action with Emma’s left arm. “It’s raining and freezing out here, and you’re soaking wet. You’re going to get yourself sick sitting out here like this.”

 

The rain poured down on both of them as Emma dropped the umbrella, frowning at Regina. She pushed Regina’s hands away and shook her head. “I’m fine. I just need some time to think.”

 

Regina stood up.

 

“What are they hiding from me?” Emma demanded suddenly, her voice shaking.

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

Emma wiped rainwater from her face and looked over to the house. “I’m so tired of this, Regina. It’s like everyone knows something that I don’t know, and nobody’s telling me. If I keep a secret because I think it’s safer for everyone that way, all of you get upset because I didn’t come to you for help or whatever. But something’s clearly going on, and... Is it about me? Is there some kind of inside joke that–”

 

“Emma,” Regina said, putting her hands on the blonde’s shoulders and trying to calm her down as she got worked up. “Emma,” she repeated, and this time it was heavier because she could see the hurt in the other woman’s eyes when she looked up. They were wet, and it was not from the rain. Regina’s chest ached.

 

Emma wiped at her face again, letting out a rough breath. “I don’t like feeling like I’m on the outside of everything,” she said honestly, voice small and barely audible. “That’s not how this is supposed to work. That’s not how family is, is it?”

 

The way Emma looked at her made Regina forget about the rain and the cold and how she was starting to shiver. She could withstand the cold, but she could not handle the sight of pain in Emma’s eyes.

 

“No,” Regina breathed out in answer to Emma’s question, regret coating the single word. “You’re right. We shouldn’t keep secrets from each other.”

 

Emma sniffed and then made a frustrated sound in her throat as she roughly wiped at her face, probably angry at herself for crying. But Regina took her hands into her own to stop her. She didn’t need to hide how she was feeling, not when it was just them out there in the rain. And Regina sighed at herself because she knew she didn’t need to hide from Emma either, but she had been.

 

“But they are,” Emma said as her shoulders fell. Her eyes lowered to Regina’s hands. She rubbed them, as if to warm Regina when Emma was much colder than she was.

 

Regina shook her head, although the blonde could not see. “It’s not them you should be upset with,” she said, blinking rain from her eyelashes. “It’s my secret they’re keeping. So if you want to be mad at someone–”

 

“You?” Emma asked, looking up at Regina with widened eyes. She looked at her like she hadn’t even thought of that as a possibility, and then straightened her face, retracting her hands. She looked disappointed. “You’re keeping something from me? I thought we...” She sighed heavily and licked her lips. She shook her head. “You?” she repeated, more hurt than confused this time.

 

The sting in Regina’s chest when Emma pulled away only intensified when she tried completing Emma’s sentence.

 

_I thought we were past that._

 

_I thought we were closer than that._

 

_I thought we were being honest and open with each other._

 

“I need to go,” Emma said, standing up and brushing past Regina, so much disappointment and hurt in her eyes that Regina thought she might drown in all of it as their eyes met briefly. “I can’t stay here anymore.”

 

“Emma,” Regina called out as she turned around to follow her, her heart pounding in her chest. Her throat felt tight. “Let me explain.”

 

Emma stopped, but she didn’t turn around. “You told everyone else, but you didn’t tell me,” she said. “Everybody. They all know, but you thought you had to keep whatever it is from me. Why? I thought there was something here, you know, between us. I thought...”  

 

“Of course there is,” Regina said as she pushed her wet hair away from her face, standing in front of Emma now. She wrapped her arms around herself, cold and uncomfortable, but even worse than that, terrified of the reaction she would get after the next words that left her mouth. “That’s exactly what this is about – you, me, us. I didn’t tell any of them, but I did ask for them to keep what they knew to themselves. I did that because I was...” Regina’s fingers dug into her side as she exhaled a shaky breath, looking away from Emma. “I love you, Emma,” she said softly, not wanting to talk around it or make excuses, make it any more difficult than it needed to be. “I love you.”

 

The rain and her heart sounded as though they were competing, trying to find out who could pound away the loudest. She wasn’t sure as a clap of thunder sounded in the air and the heavy rain chilled her bones which was winning, but it was her heart that was hurting her as she looked up and met Emma’s eyes.

 

Emma’s folded arms fell by her side. She shrugged a little, looking at Regina like she was waiting for more. “Okay...” she dragged out. “I know that, Regina. But what’s that got to do with anything?”

 

Regina rolled her eyes. “No. I mean...” She took a step forward, a tentative one, unsure whether Emma would step away from her. When Emma didn’t move, she took one more, the two of them inches apart when Regina looked into Emma’s eyes and hoped she could see all that she felt in her gaze. “I am _in_ love with you.” She swallowed, feeling a little sick to her stomach but refusing to back down now that she had started. She felt exposed and open, but if she had to feel that way with anyone, she was glad it was Emma. “I am attracted to you, Emma, and I have been for a while now. I didn’t want this to impact our friendship or make our interactions uncomfortable for you. I didn’t want things to change.”

 

Emma looked like she was struggling to breathe for a moment or two before she shook her head and rubbed at her face. “You’re in love with me?” she asked quietly, searching Regina’s face like she was looking for the punchline to the joke. Regina had seen this look before.

 

She nodded silently and didn’t look away from Emma. She cleared her throat and reached out her hand and let out a sigh of relief when Emma captured it between two of her own, squeezing it tightly. “I am, “ Regina said to her.

 

A slow smile started pulling at Emma’s lips, a little bit of disbelief lingering in her eyes. But there was something like wonderment taking its place, making Emma’s wet eyes glow as they danced across Regina’s face. “You could have told me that. I wish you had because then I...” She bit the corner of her lip as she trailed off.

 

“What?”

 

Emma looked down at their hands, up at Regina, and then back down to their hands. She lifted Regina’s hand up to her cold mouth and kissed the backs of her fingers, lifting her gaze as her slightly chapped lips brushed Regina’s skin. It made Regina’s breath shake as it left her mouth. Her entire body shivered, and it wasn’t because of the rain they had been standing in for too long, nor was it because of the cold.

 

“I thought I needed to move on from you. I thought–”

 

“Move on?” Regina repeated, and she sounded a little breathless even to her own ears.

 

“I mean,” Emma said quickly, squeezing Regina’s hand, “before. I didn’t think I had any chance with you, that you would want to be with someone, well, like me.”

 

“Someone like you,” Regina whispered, not understanding how Emma could change her life so drastically for the better and not even be aware of it. She raised her hand up to Emma’s cheek and smiled at her as she stroked her wet skin with cold fingers. “You are exactly the type of person I would choose to be with – the only person. Someone who sees the best in others, even when that person only sees the worst in themselves. Someone who doesn’t let the wrong done to them change who they are.

 

“Someone who makes me feel important and valued,” she whispered as Emma started leaning in closer to her, the words dying on her tongue and her breath struggling to remain steady. “You are an incredible woman, Emma, and anyone would be lucky to be with you.”

 

Emma covered the hand Regina had on her cheek and smiled, rain falling down on them and being completely ignored. “You mean that? You’re not just saying it?”

 

“Look around us, Emma. It’s raining, and I am still standing out here with you. I wouldn’t be risking pneumonia right now if this wasn’t important to me, if _you_ weren’t important to me.”

 

Emma released a sudden breath, heavy and loud and warm on Regina’s skin. “Does this mean...” She licked her lips, squeezing her fingers around Regina’s. “What does this mean?”

 

“Whatever we want it to mean,” Regina said, not wanting to hope for too much.

 

Emma’s eyes slowly lowered to Regina’s mouth as she licked her lips again. “Whatever?” she whispered.

 

Regina shivered in response to the way Emma stared at her mouth – stared, because there was no other word to describe how her eyes were zeroed in on Regina’s lips, her thoughts written clearly in her eyes. She leaned in, their cold noses touching, her forehead leaning against Emma’s. Lightning illuminated the sky and Emma’s face.

 

“Whatever we want,” she whispered back, licking her lips and lightly running the back of her tongue over Emma’s upper lip in the process.

 

Emma wrapped her arms around Regina and pulled her closer. “I want it to mean I can kiss you.”

 

Regina cupped the back of Emma’s head and nodded her own. “Yes, yes,” she whispered, “kiss me.” She met Emma’s lips as they gently brushed hers once, cold and chapped from the rain.

 

“Oh,” Emma breathed out, and then she was pressing in harder, drawing Regina’s lip into the heat of her mouth and sucking on it, tongue sweeping across it.

 

Regina’s eyelids fell shut and she let the moan in the back of her throat free. She reveled in the kiss, in the pressure of Emma’s mouth, the softness of her touches as their lips slid against each other and then their tongues met. Emma licked into her mouth, slow and sensual and not an ounce of uncertainty, almost too good for a first kiss. Their noses bumped only once as Regina turned her head, seeking more as her tongue stroked Emma’s. She could feel Emma’s lips curving against her, thought she might be smiling, and imagining her smiling in the middle of her kiss made a warmth spread inside her chest that she knew would not be fading anytime soon.

 

She wrapped her arms around Emma’s neck and sighed, pulling her down to her mouth. Emma pulled her closer by her hips, holding her close. Regina hummed pleasantly, and this time it was she who smiled into their kiss, delighted to feel Emma pressed so tightly to her. She could feel how much Emma wanted to feel her, all of her, and it made her cling all the more to her for that moment, unashamed of her own desire to finally be able to express how she felt.

 

It was raining, they needed to head back inside to warm up, and she wasn’t entirely certain they didn’t have an audience. But for as long as Emma let her, Regina wanted to relish in the moment and enjoy both their kiss and the feeling of Emma in her arms.

 

And so they kissed, soaked and cold but together.


End file.
